Persons hoping to attend a film that is sold out in advance are by no means out of luck, though. The festival has a rush tickets system in place, in which seats that are unfilled by 15 minutes prior to the screening are made available for purchase at the venue itself. Oftentimes ticket holders do not attend the screening, or complimentary seats are not used. As festival policy is to screen all programming at capacity, hopeful viewers need only arrive early and enter the rush ticket line, from which they'll usually be able to get admission to the film.

"I just love this day, it is so great," declares Hamel. "After spending so many months carefully choosing films, it's exciting to see both festival veterans and new people here buying tickets. Everyone has their own version of the festival, they shape their own weekend, and its fun to see how they do it."

The next main task for festival organizers is confirming the filmmakers who will be attending screenings over the four day event -- running from Thursday, April 3 through Sunday, April 6 -- now that the ticket sales have been kicked off without the difficulties of past years.

"I couldn't be any happier," concludes Hamel. "It should be easy for people to see the movies."